Unraveling the Vedas!!!!

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Vedas and mythological texts, I believe, are the eternal guides to living a meaningful and content life. Happiness, satisfaction, success and even love are but, states of mind. Mind is the powerhouse of emotions and life is a bundle of emotions. How one can take charge of emotions and channelize them for a productive purpose, to live a fruitful life is what the ancient texts teach us.

I have affirmed time and again that there creeps in, high level of subjectivity owing to differences in cognition and comprehension among readers (or listeners). Unfortunately, the importance of these quintessential texts have diluted in the minds of people and come to be known as ‘ancient’, ‘obsolete’, ‘regressive’, etc. whereas the fact is otherwise. They teach one to have the most pragmatic approach to life. It could perhaps be the nature of dissemination of knowledge of the Vedas and mythological encounters in the form of ‘Shruti’ that could have not just brought in the element of subjectivity, but also lack of written evidences for the supposed radical minds to believe in. However, with the help of ‘Smriti’ we still have the privilege of referring to some of the most intellectual texts of mankind.

In the Gita, Lord Shri Krishna explains the importance of having the right attitude towards life, and how attitude becomes a catalyst in elevating an individual to higher levels of knowledge and transcendence. A lot of sceptical people ask me about how this can be put to use and expect a chronological explanation of how that leads to change and why it is relevant. They also do ask me if this is feasible and practical. While I am tempted to answer their questions, I am also reminded of the fact that change is essentially brought from within. Change is a permanent transformation or alteration brought about in a person. It is not a theory or a formula that is substantiated by explanation of empirical evidences. As a matter of fact, hypothesis formulation is an important step in conducting even the highest of researches. One cannot bring about a change unless one is determined to. To bring about an intrinsic change in the attitude is in the hands of oneself and never others’. How others contribute to this process is by merely showing a way. It is like a freeway that leads to many roads to various destinations, having signages at intervals. It depends on the driver of the car, which way he would like to take, what speed he would like to drive at and where he wishes to stop. Similarly, a person explaining the principles is just like the signages on the freeway that show the directions so as to do away with obscurity and ignorance. The driver ultimately decides for himself, where he would like to drive down. The car is a metaphor for life, driver for a person’s mind (which leads to actions) and the destination for the purpose of life, which could be the highest level of elevation or the ultimate source. Having an open mind is of importance while reading these texts and being able to use them to one’s advantage. It is upon taking the efforts to read the texts and self-learn, followed by self-introspection that could result in the aforementioned ‘change’.

We learn a lot about the world outside and how to manage people around. But what we lack is the study of self and the science of introspection. The Vedas and the mythological texts, apart from others, teach us about this science. Nonetheless, these texts contain great insights on, and in a certain sense, foundational knowledge of astronomy, astrology, management, metallurgy, organizational behaviour, marketing strategies and many more. 

Note : The above views are writer's  interpretation of the importance of Indian Vedic texts.